The View

Here is the view from my desk at my new place. For a Kansas kid, it'll be something having a mountain to always look at now. 

My New Address

The following is the best way to get in touch with me by either letter or package, if you feel like being old fashioned:

David Maddox

20 Rue De La Resistance Appt N 13

65800 Taourirt

Maroc

Just a little update.

Well hello to all of my tens of readers! I am in the process of moving into my new apartment, my own little private sanctuary for the next two years. This got me thinking; this will be the first I have lived on my own in my life, never mind the fact that I'm living on another continent while it happens. In the last four weeks, I had only seen one American besides myself, and this only happened for one day. I must apologize for not writing on this blog more often. To be honest, usually the reasons vary but could be explained as such: I don't have access to the internet very often, boredom, I finally have a good conversation in Darija and am too excited to do anything else but gloat to myself, more boredom, I am also writing a personal journal which is lucky enough to receive my true thoughts and feelings (haha sorry but you wouldn't want to know half of those thoughts), I'm finishing reading another book (just finished my 15th book since being here), and more boredom. So after the next time passes where it seems I'm not writing in my blog very often, choose one of the above options, write your choice on a piece of paper and if you are correct I will possibly send you a gift in the next one month-ten years, depending on my level of motivation.
One quick story of a sense of accomplishment from the last couple weeks here:
I was asked by an english teacher at a local high school to come and see the school in the morning. I was under the impression that I would be possibly meeting teachers and the principal as I have done at several schools already in my town. However after arriving I soon discovered it was not to be, instead I followed him to his classroom where he started writing my name on the board. Under "Meeting David" he wrote "Education, Society, Health in the U.S.A." and asked me if I could talk to his classes about these things? This was asked right as the class soon filled with students. I owned that moment, and in the rawest moment of teaching I talked for two hours to back to back classes about these things in our culture in America. I answered many questions and talked from things ranging from homelessness, drugs and guns in the U.S. to why obesity is so high as well. I have never taken any education classes before or classes on how to really teach but I must say in all humbleness, I totally rocked those classrooms.

My new stompin' grounds.

The street I'm currently living on along with the view of the city from the train station.

Alone but constantly surrounded.

Things are going well here! I bought the ticket and am enjoying the ride. The pace of life has changed considerably from the six days a week of language classes to now being basically my own teacher only American friend in town. For the next three months I will be slowly becoming integrated into my community by doing a lot of meet and greets and attending meetings and little get togethers that come my way. The majority of all of this integration is done through Darija, although there have been a few people I've met who know a little English. It has slowly been striking me as the days have gone on in my new town; I am the only American for perhaps an hour or so. I haven't seen or talked in person with another native English now for five days or so and this will be the norm for my two years. In a strange way this has not seemed to bother me. I have welcomed the challenge of learning the new language in order to communicate thoughts and desires with people I meet. Though it is always like a breath of fresh when I get on the phone with another volunteer and can talk in English. On another note, I have just finished my sixth book since being in the Peace Corps and this is turning into a really nice side hobby.

First train ride

Onto the next stage

So I have arrived in my new city, up near the border by Algeria. I traveled on a train for the first time in my life, and although it wasn't exactly the Hogwarts Express as I had hoped it was very nice and I enjoyed riding the eight hours with other volunteer friends of mine. Yesterday was my birthday and I couldn't have asked for a better day, the other volunteers were great and offered me many congrats on the day and some even sang Happy Birthday at the train station. About ten minutes into the train ride some little kids next to the train threw a rock which shattered the window next to Matt and I, and it splintered but didn't all break onto the floor. I just like to think that this kid was wishing me a happy birthday and the rock was my present and this had been the only way to try and get it to me. All is well here though, and I'm livin' up every moment!

Eid Kabir!

Move over Rachel Ray!
This guy is cooking up a liver storm.

Some cultural exchange happening.

Today kicked off the holiday of Eid Kabir, and proved to be quite eventful. (I recommend to google the meaning behind it all to get a better understanding of how my few days are going now.) We started the morning with slaughtering our own ram and then went on to eat what felt like most of it the rest of the day (when in fact it was maybe about 10%). I ate liver wrapped in fat, the heart, most of the nose and cheeks, and intestines and some other parts I'm slightly unsure of. It was actually quite tasty, but sometimes chewy. Salt and kummon made it taste better and also always drinking the coca cola they offer. (The coke here is a lot better for some reason and then I found out it's because they do not use corn syrup and just use pure sugar which makes it taste a little sweeter but I'm sure my teeth will pay for it soon.) 

Tonight I also had the priveledge of explaining to my host father in broken Darija why Michael Jackson's doctor was being hancuffed on the television. Basically to translate I said this, "Michael Jackson. Doctor. Doctor said, "take medicine." Medicine bad. Michael Jackson died. Doctor now (handcuff motion)." and that was our cultural exchange for the day.

Host mother.

This is my host mother, Fatiha, and I could not have asked for a  kinder and nicer person to take care of me in this new country for the first couple months. And I am not exaggerating when I say "take care of me." She will do laundry with any clothes she can find of mine and she will find me anywhere in the house that I am studying or reading to bring me the coziest blanket imaginable. She found my long john's pants with the huge holes in them while I was gone for a few days, and when I returned I found them folded in my room, stitched and easily mistaken as brand new. She calls me her "son" and has been amazing for making this transition to a new country and a new culture a very smooth one.

Our CBT group!

This is my Community Based Training Group. Here we are eating lunch, the five of us and our teacher. 

It's the perspective.

Everyone is born, everyone dies, that is the universal. It is how we fill the middle of that life sandwich that makes it worthwhile. Every new action and every new thought, whether positive or negative, that we bring into existence is so unique in that it has never been done or thought quite like we have done it. This is the way you can choose to view your life; as an infinite amount of unique moments that when it comes to the end of your life you realize you are leaving these with the world and also as a mark on the people you have touched, both in a constructive and possibly destructive way. One profound way I have seen this put was by the author and Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl. He explained the difference between optimists and pessimists in life as such; pessimists are those who look dishearteningly at the decreasing days on their life's calender and are sad about the remaining days. On the other hand the optimist looks both at the blank calender day in front of them as a blank slate for truly living life, but also they look upon all the past days of the calender they have cast aside. They look at this pile from their life with thoughts of happiness and fulfillment, of lives they have touched and the richness that has filled their days. This is why the person growing old has no reason to be jealous of the youth they see, "Instead of possibilities, I have realities in my past, not only the reality of work done and of love loved, but of sufferings bravely suffered. These sufferings are even the things of which I am most proud, though these are things which cannot inspire envy."
Life is meant to be lived. When people talk about their televisions being awesome and in HD, saying it's like what they're watching is almost real, I always think to myself: Go outside, look at the world, look at real people, Life is in HD!

First English Class

Apparently teachers need something called a "lesson plan?" That was one of my main takeaways from today's english class which ultimately was a shmorgus board of lessons for me. In the beginning it appeared that only five or six students would be in the classroom as Sarah and I prepared to teach, and then slowly but surely student after student made their way into the class until about thirty or more students crowded the long benches. They were basically sitting ascots to ankles but their eager faces told me they were ready to learn. And learn they did, (well they at least now now the word for "window" which is a win in my book.) It was about an hour and a half of teaching as the two of us improvised our way through our basic lesson plan. We scrapped about half of our intended lesson and made it up slightly as we went along. However ultimately the experience was very rich and rewarding. The children are very open to learning and are hungering to know some english, especially from a native speaker. I enjoyed teaching today so much I can see why so many people may choose this for their career (though now I have an even deeper appreciation for all my past teachers, all you miracle workers that deliver knowledge to all those minds.)

This is our cozy study room where many hours are spent trying to master this language.

Just some thoughts.

Things are going great here, just more language training and this week we will start teaching english in the the Dar Chabab (youth center.) I will be finding out now in just a couple weeks where my final placement site will be and where I will be living for the next two years here in Morocco.
Just a couple observations that I was thinking about today and how I really know I'm in a different country:
1. My 18 year old host brother has never heard of Lady Gaga
2. My 26 year old language trainer has never heard of Wal-Mart
3. I am noticed wherever I go and people immediately know I am from another country, usually they think I'm French but then I tell them I am not and they answer with something funny, but the best are the calls of "Obama!" when they see us Americans.

Sean Connery's welcome.

Sunday hike

Here I am high atop Immouzare!

First two weeks at my host family's

  I would like to apologize for taking so long to write another blog entry, but this has been my first day back from my host family to the city of Fez so I am back reunited with my laptop and have some time now to let you know how things have been. Starting two weeks ago I began a two month stage of the Peace Corps called CBT, or Community Based Training. I am living in a town about forty five minutes from Fez in a town called Immouzare. It's a town of about 12,000 people and it's situated like a bowl within some beautiful hills and smaller mountains. Living with my family has been extremely rewarding and there's never a dull moment. My mother and father only speak Derija (Moroccan Arabic) and French. Beyond being able to say "WI!" for yes I know zero French and currently I have a pre-schooler's language ability with Derija so it's like being a child all over again. I have an 18 year old brother who loves to hang out with me and talk in his limited english and so we meet each other half way. I teach him English lessons in the evenings while he helps me with new words and phrases in Derija. The kid has a great sense of humor and loves american hip hop and so we connect on several levels. My host sister is twenty six and teaches at a grade school and has been an immense help for learning this new language. She has a slightly better understanding of english than I have of Derija and so I converse with her more than I do with any of the other members of the family.
  I can't believe the amount of food I am eating here. It feels weird to be in my family's house for more than an hour without a basket of fruit or freshly made bread being presented to me. After eating non stop imagine my surprise when I found out today that I have actually lost about six pounds in the last two weeks. The non sedentary life style here of the constant walks and the fresh foods and non processed meats and foods really help to come together to create a good lifestyle I feel. Plus getting good sleep and keeping a good sense of humor ;)
  It has been great feeling more integrated into my family here and getting to know the culture and language and the people. There is a great need here for helping with the youth among other issues and I am so excited to be able to do what I can here.

It's studying time

I hate to admit but this is the most I've studied in years for any subject. Hours have been spent on learning Moroccan Arabic, or Derija, and it's mentally exhausting but it's rewarding being able to start talking with people in the community. (Sorry biology or chemistry majors who would laugh manically at my mere hours of studying and saying that's exhausting, but this is coming from a psych and poli sci major.) We have been doing a couple hours of studying and language training in the mornings and then the afternoons have been mostly cultural lectures and time to spend with the language trainers and other volunteers to study more. Today is our first day off and I'm getting ready to head out with some friends to Old Fes and see some of the sites of the ancient city. Towards the end of next week we will be leaving Fes and going to smaller communities to live with our host families to do more immersed cultural and language training for a couple months before we will receive the information on our permanent site. In that site that I'm travelling to in November will be where I find out the dar chabab (youth center) that I will be working at for the two years then. More to come soon! Peace.

First days in Morocco

I am just finishing up my second day here in Fez and already am loving this new country. The language training is coming along and I'm quickly learning how much of a sponge I need to be. Getting used to Turkish toilets is rather interesting (google it if you want to) and the food has been fantastic, the fruit and vegetables are very fresh and tasty. I'll continue to update when I get the chance! Bslâma!

The Day Before

Well folks, the day that I have been so nervous for finally came. I am now connected with my whole group in Philadelphia and will be heading to New York tomorrow to fly out to Casablanca. I say I was so nervous because I had this weird anxiety that I would miss the group or had the wrong date or something. But now that I am with these amazing 40 individuals the reality is now setting in. I will be in Morocco in just over 24 hours and this is one of the most exciting days of my life.

Contacting me throughout training

I promise that I will try and blog more frequently once I make it over to Morocco, which is just a couple days away. I wanted to put my address for the next couple months on here if anyone wanted to contact me. I will be keeping my facebook for people who like to use that for messages, as well as keep my email. But this will be my address throughout the next couple months of my training:

David Maddox

s/c Corps de la Paix

2, Rue Abou Marouane Essaadi, Agdal,

Rabat 10100, MOROCCO

I can't have packages sent to me during this time but letters are welcome! 

If I successfully complete Pre-Service Training then I will be sworn-in on November 17, 2011 and find out  my permanent work site at that time. 

And we're off!

With the start of this new blog I am furthering the reality of what the next 27 months will hold. In about three weeks time I will be flying to Philadelphia and after a day with other Peace Corps volunteers we will hop on a plane headed for Morocco. Words can't truly describe how anxious, excited and passionate I feel about this adventure that I'm getting ready to dive into head first but with this blog I'll do my best to describe it so you good people can see what I'm up to.